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Various Dinosaur models

I've been a huge dinosaur geek for as long as I can remember. Something about fantastical animals that actually lived but are long gone is intriguing. So in my spare time I often find myself doing bits of paleoart, but it's been ages since I've had that sort of spare time. Now that things have calmed down a bit in my life I'm having a blast (digitally) sculpting dinosaurs again. Deinonychus has always been one of my very favorites. I was first introduced to this little speedy killer through Dino-Riders and then got to see them realized on the big screen in Jurassic Park (although improperly named Velociraptor for complicated reasons). When John Ostrom first described this animal in the 60s he noted how very similar it was to Archaeopteryx in nearly every detail except size and proportions. This lead to a revolution in our understanding of dinosaurs, and Deinonychus became a kind of poster-boy for active warm blooded dinos. Now they know these guys were far more birdlike than they imagined even 20 years ago. It was really fun sculpting him and I hope to have this physically prototyped soon.

I got the figure recently. As many of you know shapeways materials just don't like being photographed so you can't really see the detail. I'm really happy with how it came out though. He's nine inches long and at 1:12 scale he is about in scale with MOTUC figures which is kind of cool. Now if I can just stay steady enough to paint it...

Here is another one I'm working on, it's Pachyrhinosaurus . I always thought it was a really cool Dinosaur but there really aren't any models of it out there that are both accurate and aesthetically pleasing.

Seems like no one ever comes to this section of the boards anymore, but I'll keep posting because someone has to! Other Fan Creations need some love too.

Next up is Yutyrannus the recently discovered feathered Tyrannosaur from China. It lived in a relatively cold climate for the Cretaceous, even enduring snowy winters, so the extra fluff likely served as insulation. A friend of mine jokingly referred to it as a "Yetisaurus" which I quite liked.

Are you using skeletal restorations as a reference?
Who is the author(s) of those skeletals?
I am especially interested about the reference for Deinonychus skull?
Your restorations look very accurate.
What's the reason for making that lower "keratinous plate" on lacrimal of Yutyrannus (under the lacrimal horn)?

Is there any fossil evidence of scales in Pterosauria on some body parts or just pycnofibres?

Are you using skeletal restorations as a reference?
Who is the author(s) of those skeletals?
I am especially interested about the reference for Deinonychus skull?
Your restorations look very accurate.
What's the reason for making that lower "keratinous plate" on lacrimal of Yutyrannus (under the lacrimal horn)?

Is there any fossil evidence of scales in Pterosauria on some body parts or just pycnofibres?

Cheers, and keep up the good work!

Thanks Mantisaur82!

I've actually been in correspondence with Scott Hartman who reconstructed the Deinonychus skull I referenced. I thought it just felt right whereas most restorations have something off about them. I should have mentioned him earlier being that his skeletals have been very helpful in sculpting these.

The keratin plate in front of the eye on Yutyrannus was just something that looked cool while sculpting. Just an example of artistic license. I guess if there is something flat out wrong with it I should change it.

This is the very first Pterosaur I have ever sculpted and I'm admittedly unfamiliar with the group. I actually don't believe there is any direct evidence for scales in the group, but I see many reconstructions from respected artists and scientist with them. I guess this is just assumed from phylogenetic bracketing? It was actually a bit of a nightmare finding anything usable to reference on it. Just swimming through the marsh of misleading David Peters work is a pain. I mostly resorted to photos I took myself of a (heavily sculpted) mount at the Carnegie Museum. I believe it was a Triebold casting but I could be wrong.

I just couldn't see any evidence on the bone surface for restoring plate on that part of Yutyrannus lacrimal, that's why I asked, to check if I missed something.
For the same reason I asked for Pterosaurian scales.

thanks Jafari Stew! I hope my friend likes it. I also want to do more like this if I have the time. I think these come out nice when painted up. I wasn't quite sure how well the material handled paint, but overall I'm happy with the results. By the way, all of my dinosaur models are available on Shapeways if anyone is interested.

I started sculpting another Pterosaur for a commission. This one is the bizarre, filter feeding, Pterodaustro. It was also requested to be in a wading and feeding pose. However, I plan to also make a flying version.